PRO NITROUS

Pro Nitrous represents an even tighter field, with the top three—class legends Rickie Smith, Shannon Jenkins and Charles Carpenter, respectively—holding not even a one-race-worth-of-points lead over current number-nine man Steve Vick, with fourth-place Jim Halsey holding just over a three-round cushion. Terry Murphy, Burton Auxier, Randy Weatherford and Pat Stoken (shown) make up the bottom half of the present PN Belts qualifiers, but all are within three rounds or less of being overtaken from the outside. Immediately behind Vick lies Mike Castellana, only 107 points beyond Belts qualifying, who also is making a return to action at Dragstock after missing several races, and Lee Adkins Jr., less than two rounds away from Stoken in the coveted eighth slot, while in the 12th through 14th slots, Stan Allen, Doug Riesterer and Dan Stevenson each still have a shot at getting in.

Last year’s Pro Nitrous World Champion Khalid Al-Balooshi got a late start on the 2010 ADRL season after dabbling in blown NHRA Pro Mod action earlier this year, but even at nearly six rounds beyond the Belts cutoff, he also retains a slim chance at climbing from the 15th position to defend his title. In fact, with a little (or a lot) of help from faltering by those in front of them, anyone in the current PN top-20 can still entertain thoughts of Belts inclusion, as 20th-place Isaias Rojas trails Stoken by 1,097 markers going into Rockingham.

EXTREME 10.5

Both points leader Gary White and second-place Billy Glidden have already clinched a berth in the 2010 XTF Battle for the Belts. White presently enjoys a 757-points advantage over Glidden and only Jeff Naiser in third and Todd Moyer (shown) in fourth, separated by just one point, also have a mathematical chance of overtaking him for the number-one seed. In the current bottom half of the XTF Belts field resides defending series champ Spiro Pappas, Chuck Ulsch, Kenny Doak and Michelle Wilson, respectively. Though all could theoretically be caught and passed by Michael Neal in ninth or 10th-place Eric Stubbs, realistically only Wilson and perhaps Doak are vulnerable, so solid outings are crucial for both these next two races.

Of more interest in the XTF class at “The Rock” will be the race for the fifth and final membership in the Mickey Thompson Three-Second Club, which already includes Ulsch, Pappas, Moyer and White. Naiser has already turned in a 3.99 in testing, but Glidden and 11th-place holder Dan Millen, who got a late start in the XTF series this year, are both running low 4-ohs, while Neal has shown flashes of quickness, too.